BEACH TAGS.
It's a topic that stirs very strong emotions among island residents and visitors alike. And it looks like this hot button issue is only going to get more heated in the weeks to come.
Yesterday afternoon, during a special meeting at City Hall, Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano along with commissioners Anthony Leonetti and Pete Byron agreed to give residents the opportunity to vote on whether the city should start charging a beach fee this summer.
The referendum will be held on Thursday, March 5th.
Wildwood has never imposed beach fees; residents decided to keep the beach free in separate votes held in 1976 and 1981.
As it has in the past, the Greater Wildwood Tourism Improvement & Development Authority (GWTIDA) is not supporting the decision to have the issue voted upon.
“Imposing of beach fees in the City of Wildwood or any of the three municipalities within the tourism district would not be advantageous to our overall tourism economy,” officials said in a statement released yesterday.
NOTE: The upcoming referendum refers only to the City of Wildwood. At this time, there has been no official talk of North Wildwood or Wildwood Crest considering similar plans.
We would like to hear your thoughts on the matter.
Join the conversation on our Facebook page or send us an e-mail at wildwood365@gmail.com.
For more on this story, see today's articles in the following media outlets:
Wildwood voters to consider beach tags
Philadelphia Inquirer
Beach fees set for ballot in Wildwood
Courier Post Online
Wildwood voters to decide March 5 whether city should implement beach badges
Press of Atlantic City
Wildwood Commissioners Say OK to Beach Tag Referendum
Cape May County Herald
a tag to get the privilige to walk a quarter mile to shoreline.duh
ReplyDeleteI think it's more like a mile. Feels like 2 miles. If they want to make money how about camel rides to the water. Seriously, the walk is so far it's almost a reason to go somewhere else.
Deletewhy can the other beach communities do this and it's ok? Avalon has been collecting money for beach tags since 1976 but if Wildwood sees the need right away everyone gets their panties in a knot - give the taxpayers a break! This could bring in over $1.2 million to the city and would offset the cost of taking care of it.
ReplyDeleteplease no!!!! i have 7 grandkids
ReplyDeleteMany people already spend a lot of money at area restaurants and businesses and a lot to park, charging for the beach is over the top.Free is the main reasons why so many people vacation there. Start charging and people will pay to go to a beach where you don't have to walk as far to get to the water !
ReplyDeleteI would never pay to walk that far from boards to ocean and be charged. Give me a ride...I might!!
ReplyDeleteThere are not that many memories left of the "old" Wildwood I spent many Summers as a kid for family vacations and day trips.
ReplyDeleteNow, u want to impose a "fee" for us to walk at least 2 miles to get to the ocean?
Along with that fee, you are charging us for umbrellas, chairs, boogie boards, etc...
People are going to get fed up & just start going either to the Waterparks or somewhere else altogether!
PLZ reconsider this decision before you start losing more tourist after you torn down most of the hotels/motels & put up the those expensive condominumums instead?
Wildwood beaches must be free. That's one of the great things about Wildwood. Lets not forget, the town charges extra a higher sales tax on the boardwalk. The hotels also charge a tax as do condo.'s. If a beach tax is approved, Do they abolish all those extra taxes. Also the city only pays a 3% state sales tax, perhaps that do should be abolished. Wildwood will come up short, should they choose to charge a beach fee.
ReplyDeleteHere is a way to keep people off the beach. Stupid politicians...
ReplyDeleteI think wildwood should not require beach tags--that is one of the perks that the wildwoods have offered and should not change it!
ReplyDeleteKeep it free or they'll go some place else. It's not rocket science.
ReplyDeleteCharging a fee to use a public entity means I have the right to sue you, and if this goes thru you can bet I'll seek out a legal team to look into this matter.
ReplyDeleteWait till they realize the lost monies already dedicated to beach maintenance and other associated costs, which they will have to make up, before they collect one cent. They will already be in the hole by over half a million, so how much do they really hope to bring in before they break even. They should contract the beach cleaning and maintenance to outside vendors, if they want to save money, but that would knock family and political hacks a few pegs down the ladder, we cannot have that now can we?
ReplyDeleteYeah,too far a walk to pay a fee......and why not keep it free.....poor seaside is a pay beach with no rides operating(yet) get those tourists down here instead!FOR FREE.....
ReplyDelete